Blessed cool, and tools continued

Today is another in a series of sunny cool days, lovely clear skies, moon visible, and a quilt on the bed, doesn't get better!

About tools, I've always been up for sharing, no need for everyone to buy everything. Way back, in our first house, Handsome Partner, a non gardener, seeing my gardening ambitions, invested in a tiller. I don't believe in tilling. I think it brings up weed seeds and gives them all the help they need. I'm more into mulching vegetables and flowers.

Anyway I had a tiller, and started lending it out. $5 per day, a token, to help get it returned. And I got the name and phone number of the borrowers.  Never a problem. 

I loved lending to Italian men. At that time there was a wave of immigration of families from a couple of Italian towns, all keen on growing food.

They would return promptly, and one man actually polished it and changed the oil.  He explained that I didn't know about engines, being a woman, so he took care of it. Italians also had great recipe ideas.  And they were cute, never a bad thing. 

When we sold the house, I put the tiller into a garage sale and had a minor bidding war.

I've rarely had my trust broken. One of my sisters used to say I  was ridiculous, people weren't trustworthy, but my experience didn't bear that out.

Same with musical instruments. I've had them shipped to me, no charge,  to try, when I was buying my recorders, and could either ship back or, if I was happy, send a check. Small trusting world, definitely my style.  It's possible I'm lucky, in which case my luck's held up for decades!

Today's walk yielded an early Fall scene, leaved down, fungi appearing 

And a van Goghish scene overhead 

Back home today's flower arrangement 

Simple lunch.  Wednesday is a tired day, recovering from Tuesday.  

So today was shrimp with dill, yogurt sauce, and mixed green salad with miso tofu, spritz of lemon juice.

Here's some eye candy. He makes it look easy

Happy day, everyone. We all make something look easy.

Christmas Eve Eve

 Interesting easy lunch yesterday

Pasta, roast chicken, big handful of cilantro (no, I don't want to know if you don't like it, thank you!)  with a lot of pepper and hot spicy flavor, raspberries and blueberries for dessert. 

And the friend who brought all the dipped chocolate treats and went away with an artwork sent me this picture of it in its new

home.

Here the general area, a kind of gallery, and here showing it in contrast to a goldwork stitching of wheat. She bought the wheat out of a show I had years ago, and liked the contrast.

The work is Three Sisters, mixed media with black gesso, made from a Styrofoam printer container, sardine cans and handmade beads, among other things. Many references in it to family, differences, likenesses, inevitability. This piece dates far back, to the seventies probably.

Happy day, everyone, shrimp for Chrissy Eve dinner. That's about the sum of today's ambition.

Victory in Makariv, shrimp and ice cream futures

The good news this morning is the liberation of Makariv, Ukrainian flag raised again, Russian troops pushed out. 

Then more trivial items but big in my house, the shower is now fixed 

I think the  breakfast bars gave Gary a jolt of energy, because he showed up, made pictures of the necessary parts, shopped for the parts, fixed the shower, and got the kit required to fix the toilet. All done at warp speed.

He's coming back to do the rest of the fixing, had to run, basketball game in the city with daughter, season tickets..never a dull moment! He's a dear friend, and waiting isn't a problem. If it were urgent, he'd drop everything. I'm so much in his debt.

And, Mary, I did some shrimp yesterday, you'd have liked them. I just thawed them overnight in the fridge, dried them, saved the liquid that came off for a future sauce.

Then after studying recipes which were all a bit fussy, ended up just dousing them with Old Bay seasoning and a bit of salt. 

My mind just went everywhere trying to remember the name Old Bay -- offering me Fishermen's Friend, Mariner's Rest, some imaginative tries, but finally remembering the right name. 

This and minced garlic, quite a bit, seared just a couple of minutes. Served over Basmati rice. Really simple cooking, and it was so good. The shrimp are the size I like, and very good quality Misfits, cleaned and ready.

And there's another meal to warm up for today.

Out walking, clear skies, sunshine, and these natural sculptures

Then there's looking ahead to coming attractions

The current spiral tube socks are completed and I'm picking colors for the next, which will be toe up. I'm using all my sock styles as I go, variety being good.

Richard Rohr, ny daily spiritual guidance reading, is talking about nonduality at the moment, the existence of good and evil together, indivisible. No in group and outgroup. Just group. All belonging, for better or worse. 

He's really just describing the Shakuhachi effect. Something I've always believed in anyway. Bad things are not an interruption of life, just part of it. Rough threads and slubs in the fabric. Not preaching here, just musing.

Now for a cup of tea and a breakfast bar, or raisin thingie. They're very good after a day or two.

Life is good.